Doug Stephens' job as an officer of the US Customs & Immigration Service was to interview people coming into the US from Mexico and determine the veracity of their stories of being in danger at home. A heartbreaking job, given the terrible things so many had endured. It became unbearable when the Trump administration changed US policy with “Remain in Mexico.” No matter how dangerous that might be, USCIS was ordered to send the petitioners back. Doug Stephens refused, telling his supervisor, “You don’t understand. I’m not doing these interviews. I think they’re illegal. They’re definitely immoral. And I’m not doing them.” Stephens knew that he’d be fired, and indeed his supervisors started disciplinary proceedings against him. He quit and also protested loudly and publicly, saying the policy “... returns migrants to these extremely dangerous situations, it’s creating a risk to public safety, and it’s putting those individuals in significant danger of crime, violence, and possibly torture.” He added that the policy is “clearly designed to further this administration’s racist agenda of keeping Hispanic and Latino populations from entering the United States.” Stephens, who is also an attorney, wrote a memo detailing why the Remain in Mexico policy is illegal. He sent the memo to his colleagues, his supervisors, and a U.S. Senator. That Senator produced a report based on Stephens’ information. It stated that Trump’s policies “have involved actions that are in violation of domestic and international law; have placed political pressure on asylum officers to deny refuge to worthy applicants; and have subjected people seeking asylum to dehumanizing, dangerous, and in some cases deadly conditions.” The Human Rights First organization has documented hundreds of incidents of rapes, kidnappings, and violent assaults against individuals and families that the US government has ordered back to Mexico. Stephens is believed to have been the first asylum officer to refuse to conduct such interviews, but he’s not the last: Many more have been calling in sick, requesting transfers, taking early retirements, and resigning. Update: Doug Stephens' resigned from UCIS in 2019. He now works for a non-profit offering immigration services to women and children. (fb)

EMPOWERING INDIA'S POOR Mabelle Arole MD of Maharashtra, India gave up the comforts of a professional, upper-class life to train health workers in villages and to champion India's women and all the nation's poor. As a result of her work, more infants are surviving and the number of unplanned pregnancies has dropped. After a rigorous training in medicine, which included undergraduate work in South India, a residency in medicine and surgery in the US, and then a master’s degree in public health at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Arole returned to India with the goal of helping the poor and disenfranchised of her country. She and her husband, Raj Arole MD, founded the Comprehensive Rural Health Project (CRHP) in the village of Jamkhed in Maharashtra. Gaining the trust and confidence of an oppressed, lower caste population, Arole secured full community participation. Ownership by the people is a core theme at CRHP, which is designed to empower the people, especially women and all the poor, through mobilization, health education and training more health workers. As a devoted champion of all Dalits and of all women and children, Arole is known for her determination and excellence. Highly lauded as a doctor, she endures with humor and grace the pervasive stereotyping inflicted on women in her country. Dr. Arole influenced prominent organizations as an advisor to UNICEF and WHO, moving her wisdom and expertise worldwide. Update: Dr. Arole went on to author two books, one with her husband entitled Jamkhed: A Comprehensive Rural Health Project, and VOICES of South Asian Women, her interviews with South Asian women who faced violence and repression at all stages of their lives. Mabelle Arole died in 1999. (fb)